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PPL Electric Utilities Keynotes 11th Annual ARCOS Conference

COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwired - Feb 20, 2014) - ARCOS LLC and its co-host American Electric Power have invited PPL Electric Utilities' Ed Pringle to keynote the 11th Annual ARCOS Conference where he will show utility professionals how PPL Electric Utilities recently integrated outage-management and callout technology with the goal of speeding up power restoration.

Pringle will explain how his colleagues have linked the utility's outage management system (OMS) with the recently implemented ARCOS® Callout and Scheduling suite. The linked systems share data that determines the real-time status of utility crews. The automated callout system has supported ongoing efforts by PPL Electric Utilities to improve responsiveness and customer service. This trims restoration time and improves reliability for customers. For example, according to Electric Light & Power magazine, identifying and assembling utility crews with the ARCOS Suite reduced storm CAIDI by up to 30 minutes at Kansas City-based KCP&L.

Pringle will also show how the two software systems work together, so managers can use a few keystrokes on a smartphone or tablet to create, for instance, rosters for mutual assistance and reports for regulators. The OMS also sends restoration event statistics to the ARCOS software. PPL Electric Utilities managers can add the OMS data to the ARCOS callout reports, which highlight employee callout response rate, crew make-up and restoration details.

"Most utilities still pick up phones to connect dispatchers, supervisors and linemen to start and complete a callout; power is restored, but manual callout wastes hours and money," said Bruce Duff, chief executive officer for ARCOS. "A manual system makes it nearly impossible to record callout response rates or verify that a callout followed workplace agreements."

Pringle will deliver his remarks at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Chandler, Ariz., on March 10, 2014. Other conference presenters include subsidiaries of Iberdrola USA, which recently put in place the ARCOS Crew Manager product. Crew Manager gives storm managers a computer-generated board for visually organizing and mobilizing crews for large power-restoration event.

Sponsors for this year's conference include Iberdrola USA and Southern Company. The agenda and registration link are at: http://bit.ly/1jCfupu

About ARCOS LLCTwenty-three of the top 25 U.S. utilities rely on the ARCOS® Callout and Scheduling Suite. When the power goes out, a gas leak is reported or another emergency occurs, the award-winning, SaaS-based ARCOS Suite instantaneously finds, assembles and tracks repair crews, reducing outage interruptions and improving restoration time for electric, gas and power plant utilities. For more information, visit www.arcos-inc.com or call 614-396-5500.